By the Seashore

It's warm and sunny out and I hope you are enjoying your Thursday with some fun in the sun! This cute and flowy dress is super comfortable in the 80 degree temps we've been getting here in L.A. and makes me want to run to the beach! Summer is just about here and I'm loving this dress as a summer staple. 

By the Seashore Dress: Lulu*s $37 (use code 'XTRASEASHORE' for additional 30% off)||Sunglasses: Lulu*s $12||Purse: Lulu*s $31 

I paired this dress with a pair of adorable cat eye tortoise sunnies, a lightweight mint clutch (the strap is detachable!), and t-strap sandals (similar here in gold and black). 

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**Please note that this post contains affiliate links. I may be compensated if you purchase through a link, but all opinions are my own!

Why It's Great to Be an Aunt

This past weekend I was able to spend some great family time in Vegas (which is what I do while in Vegas... growing up there is way different!) and had an opportunity to snap some quick photos of these adorable munchkins! 

Being an aunt is the best! Your nieces and nephews adore you, are excited to see you, and you get too leave when they are too crazy (sorry sis). Capturing smiles from four high energy tots while mega gusts of winds were blowing and the sun was at it's peak for the day... not the easiest! Despite this, they were all smiles and nobody ran away. Ok, so little J almost made it across the park while I was taking photos of the parents, but we made it out with four alive kids and that's what's called a successful day! 

I absolutely love watching these adorable kids grow up and am so glad I had a chance to get them all together into a few pictures, which is a lot considering there are four of them 5 and under! 

Dress Envy

It always seems to work out that when you need to save money the most you get a major urge to buy shiny new things. I am having MAJOR dress envy right now. I've been sitting here on Lulus.com and am loving just about everything! Let me show you what I'm drooling over at the moment! (Almost all under $50 so yay for not breaking the bank!)

Fun, flirty, and under fifty!

Dee Elle Whimsical Whim Turquoise Dress - $41.00

LULUS Exclusive Shifting Dears Magenta Long Sleeve Dress - $44.00

Tidbit Vivacious Mint Dress - $49.00


For an Elegant Night on The Town

On the Boulevard Navy Blue Lace Midi Dress - $34.00

Earned It Black Lace Shift Dress - $66.00

Serious Deals!

By the Seashore Ivory and Blue Print Dress - $61.00
Use code XTRASEASHORE until 5/5 to save an additional 30%!

From Sheer to There Grey Lace Midi Dress - $49.00
Additional 30% off with code XTRASHEER until 5/5!


Accessories

You Got a Point Mint Clutch - $31.00

Eye on the Prize Brown Tortoise Sunglasses - $12.00

Shape Up Silver Cutout Flip Flops - $12.00

Opening Bands Silver Rhinestone Ring - $12.00

Also, don't forget about these ongoing deals...
Lulu*s International Shoppers get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $150! Use promo code WORLDWIDE at checkout. Shop Top Fashion!
Shop Lulu*s and enjoy $10 off + Free Shipping on US orders over $100 - Use promo code 'Freeship10' at checkout. Click here!

So cute and affordable! I definitely just bought half of the items listed above and can't wait to share once they arrive! What are some of your favorites?

All Natural Easter Eggs With Beets and Spinach

I've been inspired! I keep seeing friends post their awesome photos of adorable and creative Easter eggs. I'm running out of time, so I figured let's get to it!

I've always been the type of girl that takes the long way about doing things. I like to make sure things are done correct, with the steps going the way I want them to. With that being said, I did not run down to the craft store to buy some red dye number 6 or artificial something or other. There are so many great foods that do an incredible job at staining that are all natural! What I had lying around my kitchen today were beets and spinach (well, technically a frozen bag of spinach, kale, and chards).

Just so you know, homemade natural dyes do not work the same way as artificial dyes. They take longer for the color to soak in and the color is not always as vibrant or shiny. I love pale and muted colors so I am totally okay with this!

Once I boiled the eggs, made the dyes (by boiling the spinach and beets in separate saucepans with water for around 20 minutes each), and let the eggs cool and dry, I made vinyl stencils with my Cricut. These are too cute and super easy! You can find the stencils here. If you need some more stencil vinyl, head on over to the Cricut store.

I dyed each egg for about five minutes, let it dry, and then repeated until I achieved the desired color. Once completely dry I took of the vinyl stencils, and voila! Adorable Easter eggs!

Happy Easter! 

Zazzle! (With Coupon Codes)

I love customization! The feeling of making a craft or gift personal gives me much more satisfaction than picking up a mass produced item from the rack. Often times though, my ideas far exceed my abilities. I try, but there's only so much you can do on your own when you don't own a printing facility. Luckily for me though (and all of you lovers of customization out there) I have found the best place to let your imagination run wild: Zazzle.com!

Anything you can think of, it can happen. Stationary, wrapping paper, fabric, mugs, t-shirts, phone cases, wedding decor, water bottles, USB drives, invitations... the list goes on. The best part is you can chose a finished design from the marketplace, work from a template, make a design from scratch, or upload a design. Their site is so simple to use! Your design can go from idea to ordered in a matter of minutes. There's even an app!

Zazzle also has a membership service called Zazzle Black. The subscription is for a year and you enjoy free shipping and discounts. There are two tiers, Standard at $9.95 for the year, or 2-Day at 39.95 for the year. 2-Day includes free 2-day shipping on qualifying orders.

Keep an eye out in the next few weeks as I will be doing a giveaway of one of my own designs on a Zazzle item! I'm having so much fun creating items through their site. I'll give you more updated information in a later post. 

(**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the links I could make a small commission. All opinions are completely my own!)

And now for the COUPONS!!! They all start on 4/3 and last until 11:59 PM on 4/8.

Up to 50% Off Everything For Graduation

20% Off Sticker You Temporary Tattoos - Use code: TEMPORARYTAT

30% Off Common Rebels Night Lights - Use code: COMMONREBELS

30% Off Powis iPad Cases - Use code: POWISPRESENT

35% Off Keyscaper Headphones - Use code: KEYSCAPERS4U

20% Off Bound Journals - Use code: BOUNDJOURNAL

20% Off Stickers & Labels - Use code: ZAZGRADSTICK

20% Off Mugs - Use code: MUGFORMYGRAD

25% Off Flexible Magnets - Use code: CUSTOMMAGNET

35% Off Luggage Tags - Use code: OFFTOEXPLORE

20% Off Cookies - Use code: COOKIES4GRAD 

40% Off Paper Coasters - Use code: PAPERCOASTER

40% Off Paper Plates - Use code: SPECIALPARTY

35% Off Ornaments - Use code: PROUDOFZGRAD

15% off All Orders + 50% off cards -Use code: GIFTFORGRADS